Businessman Michael Leverock was a schoolboy at the time of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, who was murdered 50 years ago tomorrow.

Mr Leverock said: “I grew up in the Sixties, in his time and his era — it was taught to me as a child.

“I always admired Dr King and the others who were instrumental in that stage of history, particularly in North America.”

Mr Leverock was speaking before the life and legacy of Dr King is commemorated tomorrow from 12.30pm on the steps of City Hall with the theme of “The Power of Dreams”.

Imagine Bermuda, a community group, decided to mark the anniversary with a celebration of dreamers and visionaries who stuck to their dreams and prevailed.

History recorded Dr King’s ambitions from his I Have a Dream speech in 1963, delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

The address to more than 250,000 civil rights marchers underlined America’s potential for equality, even as Dr King battled racism and oppression.

The speech came to symbolise the aims of the Civil Rights Movement well before Dr King’s assassination five years later.

Mr Leverock’s personal dream took him to the cutting edge of telecommunications in Bermuda at a time when the internet was in its infancy.

He said telecommunications came with its own set of ideals, as the internet had the “power to expose things, to makes things transparent”.

Mr Leverock added: “It gives people access to information, to whatever it is they need. It can bring people out of their existing condition, to make things better.”

He added that in developing countries “a mobile phone gives people the ability to carry out transactions and support one another”.

Mr Leverock, an engineer with a master’s degree in business, saw potential in the early days of the internet.

He brought a callback system, Global Access Bermuda, to give residents access to cheaper phone services to access the internet.

Mr Leverock said: “Of course, we ended up going head to head with Cable & Wireless. After a court battle, we ended up having to shut down.”

He later cofounded Bermuda Digital Communications, and his efforts paved the way for competition in long-distance phone service from companies like TeleBermuda International.

His own business, Cellular One, did not open its doors until 1999, but Mr Leverock’s determination helped move the industry forward.

He said: “We had challenges convincing potential investors that we were feasible and viable.”

The company struggled to find a cell site, plus equipment suited for Bermuda, while maintaining its licence.

Mr Leverock and his business partner, Kurt Eve, worked through the early problems.

Innovations such as automatic roaming and texting came to the island as a result.

Mr Leverock said: “The whole gist of our effort was to bring Bermuda the latest technology for competitive pricing and excellent quality of service.”

He has since been hailed as a visionary in the island industry.

Mr Leverock said: “If you believe in what you’re doing, you just need to not get discouraged.

“Apply that tenacity. Get that intestinal fortitude that might be lying dormant, and just pursue it.

“Stumbling blocks will happen. Failures occur. You just need to find a solution around your stumbling blocks, learn from the failures and don’t get discouraged.”